Diego Lugano RSS feedhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/diego-lugano
enSuarez ban will unite Uruguay, says LuganoUruguay captain Diego Lugano insists they will remain united despite striker Luis Suarez being thrown out of the FIFA World Cup.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/suarez-ban-will-unite-uruguay-says-lugano
Suarez has been banned by FIFAfor Uruguay's next nine competitive international matches and suspended from any football-related activity for four months, after biting defender Giorgio Chiellini in the 1-0 win over Italy that sealed the South Americans'place in the last 16.
The Uruguayan Football Association are to appeal the punishment, and Lugano is adamant he and his team-mateswill stay positiveas theyprepare to face Colombia in the second round at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.
"Indignation, impotence, I think that's what we all feel. We'd all like a fairer world, but that world simply does not exist," Lugano posted on his Facebook page.
"Those who rule, rule, and the strong ones are the strong ones... keep feeling proud of him (Suarez), he deserves it.
"Nothing will stop us. We will carry on with humility, union, determination, recognition of mistakes, and with our heads always high."
Former Uruguay striker Javier Chevanton has called on the national team to boycott the rest of the World Cup in support of Suarez.
"This ban is an enormous disgrace. Who said he bit his opponent? Many things can be said about those images," Chevanton told Tutto Mercato Web.
"Evidently the condemnation around the world is all envy. Suarez is among the best players in the world and we knockedItaly and England out, while Brazil are afraid we'll give them a repeat of 1950 (when Uruguay beat hosts Brazil in the final).
"I think the players should leave the World Cup out of solidarity for Suarez. We need to send a strong signal, because it all looks as if it is being set up to help Brazil win the tournament. Suarez is being persecuted."
news_articleThu, 26 Jun 2014 19:42:12 +0000201581 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comEl World Cup Diario, Day 14: No story to see here, move along Nick Harper discusses the fallout from the big story about you-know-who and you-know-what that definitely, absolutely, categorically is not a story...Nick Harperhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/el-world-cup-diario-day-14-no-story-see-here-move-along
To paraphrase the hilarious old saying about insanity in the workplace, it seems you don't have to be deluded, myopic and borderline psychotic to be a Uruguayan, but it helps.
We refer, of course, to the ongoing adventures of loveable Luis Suarez, the game's biggest, most belligerent b*****d.
Now it's important to say straight off that El Diario isn't against fisticuffs in football. To be frank, that's been the only thing missing from these finals – an outbreak of nonsense to lower the tone a little. Life is light and shade, after all, and often it's the Dark Arts we admire the most; The Battle of Santiago, Claudio Gentile's entire career, and even the comic capers of that Croatia-Australia game in 2006.
But you have to draw the line somewhere. And to all right-minded people, biting the flesh of another human being sits on the wrong side of somewhere.
It's probably legally important at this stage to say that Luis Suarez may not have actually bitten Giorgio Chiellini the other night, but we've all seen the footage and we know what we saw. Only, based on all the noises being made yesterday by almost everyone from Uruguay, it seems we are wrong. There is no story. Repeat: No Story. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Suarez himself had already said as much. "These things happen on the pitch and there's no reason to make a story out of it," he mumbled straight after Tuesday's game.
Today, his team-mates, colleagues and cohorts rallied round him and attempted to bury the story. "Did you see it today or did you see what happened in other years?" asked his captain, Diego Lugano. "You couldn't have seen it today because nothing happened."
The Uruguayan FA weighed in, suggesting the bite marks on Chiellini's shoulder had been Photoshopped to make them appear more savage than they were. And the collective Uruguayan media claimed the story is just a giant English conspiracy, blown up to conceal the fact that we aren't very good at football.
They have a pretty water-tight argument there, but they ruined it by then suggesting that we only won the World Cup in 1966 because of that goal that didn't cross the line. Actually, they have a point with that as well, but what it's got to do with this story is anyone's guess.
Luckily, the rest of the world's media saw things very differently and are as outraged as the English. Germany's Bild described it as a "crazy biting attack" from "football's vampire", which is apt given the man who didn't send Suarez off goes by the nickname 'Dracula'. Switzerland's Blick screamed: "Incredible: Cannibal Suarez strikes again", while Belgium's Het Laaste Nieuws described it as "the tooth of God".
FIFA's disciplinary division opened an enquiry and vowed to act fast. They even wheeled out the marvellously named Martin Hong of the Hong Kong FA to explain that no stone would be left unturned. But they too were wasting their time, because there really is no story here.
"We don't have any doubts that this has happened because it's Suarez," said Alejandro Balbi, Uruguay's slick lawyer, and neither do we, but not in the way he means. "There is a possibility that they ban him, because there are precedents," he added, amid talk of it being a ban of anything up to two years. "But we're convinced that it was an absolutely casual play. We’re going to use all the arguments possible so that Luis gets out in the best possible way."
With that, he went off to deliver The Defence Dossier to Mr Hong of Hong Kong, who was probably up half the night and may well have announced his ruling by the time you read this.
In some ways it's a pity the final decision wasn't being made by former defender Danny Mills, for he offered some very strident views. "I'm sorry but they have got to throw him up in jail and lock him up forever," screamed the voice of reason. Forever, if not even longer, although the whispers suggest it'll be six games.
More news! (may contain traces of Suarez)
Now you'd be forgiven for thinking that Day 14 of The World Cup had been cancelled yesterday, given the attention Suarez-gate received, but it wasn't. Some other stuff did happen.
A Norwegian man apparently won £500 from a £3 wager he'd had on Suarez biting someone at some point during this World Cup, which should probably have gone in the first section rather than this, but never mind.
The Italian inquest into the Azzurri's exit saw the finger of blame point not at Luis Suarez but at the rubber-lipped Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. We learned that Jagger had told 70,000 fans at a concert in Rome very recently that Italy would beat Uruguay, only to be proven wrong. He previously told a large number of Portuguese fans that Portugal would win the World Cup, which won't happen, and ahead of the Uruguay defeat he tweeted, "Let's go England! This is the one to win!"
It turns out the Brazilians have been observing Jagger for some time and now refer to his penchant for backing the wrong team as "pe frio", meaning bad luck.
Elsewhere, England's heroes apparently arrived back at some airport or other today, bringing an end to their terrific World Cup Adventure. But hey, if a plane lands at an empty airport and there's no one there to see it, does the plane really land?
Anyway, finally, amid all the accusations and investigations, some football apparently took place. And like so much of it, it was pretty good. Argentina won, France didn't but still did, Switzerland did as well, and even Bosnia did. Sadly though, the football really wasn't the news. Not today and probably not tomorrow either.
featureWed, 25 Jun 2014 23:01:00 +0000Joe Brewin200674 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comSuarez is being victimised, claims LuganoUruguay captain Diego Lugano claims team-mate Luis Suarez is being victimised after he was alleged to have bitten Italys Giorgio Chiellini.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/suarez-being-victimised-claims-lugano
The South American side's dramatic 1-0 win over Italysealed theirplace in the last16 of the FIFA World Cup on Tuesday, but the result has beenovershadowed by the latest controversial incident surrounding Suarez.
Footage of the game appeared to show the Liverpoolstriker biting Chiellini in the second half, with FIFA opening an investigation that could meana lengthysuspension if he is found to be guilty.
Suarez has been sanctioned at club levelon two previous occasions for biting and was also suspended following a verbal confrontation with Patrice Evra, when he was accused of racially abusing the Manchester United full-back.
Lugano, however, does not believe the striker has done anything wrong on this occasion, becoming the latest to suggest he is being singled out by the media.
The Uruguay captainsaid: "The images do not show anything, just a collision between two players. Nothing important.
"The British media persecutes Suarez; everyone knows that. That sells a lot in England; if not, you wouldn't be here.
"I don't get why there's a British journalist here talking about Suarez. It seems this is a story the media loves. There is no other explanation."
Lugano claimed other sections of the world's media were part of the problem too.
He added: "Yesterday (Tuesday) Uruguay achieved an historic victory against a football power and in a common situation of a football match with physical contact, with common provocations.The world's press talks about a totally trivial fact, starting with Brazilian press.
"I've seen a lot of violentscenes in this World Cup. Elbows in the nose, do you remember? Kicks in the tibia and the knee.
"That's dangerous, that's violence. Fights between team-mates. And I never heard anything about that. I don'tknow if you journalists want to make justice or if you want to take some sportive advantage.
"I can't understand why a situation so trivial, that doesn't bring consequences to anyone, has so many repercussions."
Lugano's comments echo the sentiments of Suarez's lawyer Alejandro Balbi.
"We don't have any doubts that this has happened because it's Suarez and secondly because Italy was eliminated," Balbi, who is a Uruguay Football Association Board member, was widely report to have told a Uruguayan radio station earlier on Tuesday.
"There's a lot of pressure from England and Italy. We're polishing off a defence argument."
Balbi is aware of the possible ramifications, although he suggested there was nothing untoward about Suarez's actions.
"There is a possibility that they ban him, because there are precedents, but we're convinced that it was an absolutely casual play, because if Chiellini can show a scratch on one shoulder, Suarez can show a bruised and almost shut eye," Balbi added.
"If every player starts showing the injuries he suffers and they open inquiries for them everything will be way too complicated in the future. We're going to use all the arguments possible so that Luis gets out in the best possible way."
news_articleWed, 25 Jun 2014 22:59:29 +0000200680 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comEl World Cup Diario Day 7: Not a matter of life or deathThoughtfully sucking his special Diario pencil, Nick Harper gets his priorities straight...Nick Harperhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/el-world-cup-diario-day-7-not-matter-life-or-death
Having stayed up until the small hours watching Croatia-Cameroon last night, and Russia-South Korea the previous night, and Ghana-USA the night before that, and Argentina-Bosnia the night before, and Ivory Coast-Japan until 4am the previous night, and a Last Of The Summer Wine box-set until way past 5 in the morning before the World Cup even started, El Diario is now feeling a tad jiggered.
We feel on the verge of physical and mental collapse, but this is not a complaint. We are now seven days into a World Cup finals and this is exactly how it's supposed to feel. This is official World Cup sleep-deprived exhaustion and it feels somehow right. True, we look like s**t and ran out of clean pants on Day Three, but it could be worse. How could it be worse? Well, we could be dead for starters.
Woaahh! Death? In a supposedly lighthearted World Cup recap diary? Tragically so, for over in China at least two football fans have died watching these finals. One fan suffered a heart attack watching the Netherlands thrash Spain, another collapsed and died while watching Costa Rica upset Uruguay, and Shanghai's hospitals have reported a spike in emergency cases since the tournament began. Many fans are "feeling the effects of staying up late" and many suffering breathing and stomach issues often caused by "irregular eating and sleeping patterns".
The strangest thing about that is that China aren't even in this World Cup, but the dawn kick-offs and a diet rich in goals but low in sunlight is clearly bad for your health. Brazil 2014 should really have come with a warning.
Certainly Joe Hart should have been warned. He might have thought harder for a better choice of phrase when previewing tonight's must-win game against Uruguay. "It's do or die," said Joe England yesterday, rather insensitively. (Actually, what he really said was "It's f**king do or f**king die at the end of the day, to be fair," but this is a family diary).
Clearly it's not actually do or die, Joe. It's just a game of football. True, it's likely to be squeaky on the old sphincter again, but hopefully no one will die during tonight's game. Although those Uruguayans can be quite aggressive, so who knows?
And as we segue almost effortlessly from genuinely tragic death notices into early team news ahead of tonight's clash, it seems that Luis Suarez may be fit to play. This is bad news for England, although the fact he's declared himself fit but probably isn't qualified to declare himself fit means that this bad news may actually be good news, in that it's probably not true. “I have been training for a few days with the team and I am 100% ready,” he said, in Uruguayan, so maybe something was lost in translation. “I now only need time on the pitch and to play the game.” That's all he needs. Nothing more. Probably.
More definite is that the Uruguay captain Diego Lugano has been definitely ruled out with a knee injury. Now that is good news. Although given how clueless he was against Costa Rica in the first game, and that he led by example, maybe it's actually really bad news. Get well soon, Diego. Really really soon.
And on a day of bad news for Uruguay, another player definitely ruled out is the boy Dulce de Leche, the holding midfiel... Hold on, he’s not a holding midfielder at all. He's a massive tub of caramel spread the Uruguayan players eat to remind them of home. This dulce de leche was supposedly the secret to their success at the 2010 World Cup, but due to them not having the correct paperwork for bringing milk-based products into Brazil, it was seized at the airport and still hasn't been returned.
Some Uruguayans have suggested its disappearance was the sole reason for the Costa Rica defeat, but that was more down to Lugano. And besides, they can have it back "as soon as they can produce the necessary documents," said a very official-looking official from the Brazilian Agriculture Department. "Or they can pick it up on their way out of Brazil."
On their way out of Brazil? They might as well pick it up after tonight's game then, because if they lose tonight they're as good as on their way.
Yes, that's right. Despite the history books revealing that only 9% of teams who've lost their opening game in the World Cup since the 32-team format arrived in 1998 have qualified for the knockout stages, we still absolutely believe.
England Expects, readers!
Way too much!!
Yet again!!!
The word from CampEngland is that the attacking philosophy we unveiled against Italy will remain the same. "Absolutely," said the England manager, Mr Roy Hodgson Esq. "We've been working towards this philosophy and we have the players to carry it out." That special Attacking At The Expense Of Defending philosophy, Mr Hodgson? "Absolutely." Oh Lordy.
(Mr Hodgson wouldn't be drawn on what role Wayne Rooney might play in all of this, but the word is that Wazzo will finally be deployed tonight in his favoured position: on a pedestal, slap bang in the middle.)
Now contrast Mr Hodgson's throbbing positivity with the downbeat defeatism of Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez. Quoted yesterday in a book extract from an interview he so long ago it could be argued it has no relevance now, Tabarez was asked if success – namely the 2011 Copa America title – can be a dangerous thing. “Victory," he replied, "is the sweet that rots your teeth.”
Actually, that's more likely to be the dulce de leche, but we take his point: Uruguay are on a downward spiral and are there for the taking. So it's England to win, then. And then maybe an early night.
A Bit More 'News'
Spain are out, as you may have heard, which is sad. Likewise Australia, despite their heroics against the Dutch. And with Cristiano Ronaldo carried off with an ice pack on his knee yesterday, Portugal are starting to look like the next big guns heading for a fall. However, if you came to this page looking for hard news and football reports, you're bang out of luck. Go back to the homepage and start again.
Big Phil Scolari turned on the Brazilian media after Tuesday's sloppy draw with Mexico, claiming that the hosts will be awarded no more penalties in this World Cup because of the media's outcry at Fred's thieving dive against Croatia. No more penalties for the host nation? Not if Sepp has his way.
Robin van Persie's 93-year-old granddad was pictured 'Persieing' on the floor of his home – the tribute to his grandson's flying header against Spain that is apparently sweeping the planet. The poor old lad may still be down there now for all we know. Can somebody call Home Help?
And thank the good lord above: Coleen Rooney has arrived safely in Brazil, touching down with her 18 pieces of luggage around 1am local time. And at the end of a gruelling flight accompanied by two small children, she did what any mother would do: went straight to bed. No, no, she stood on top of the hotel in her shocking pink swimsuit, waiting to be photographed.
featureThu, 19 Jun 2014 00:30:00 +0000Gary Parkinson195837 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comInjury rules Lugano out of crunch England clashUruguay will be without captain Diego Lugano for their vital FIFA World Cup clash against England in Sao Paulo due to a knee injury.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/injury-rules-lugano-out-england-game
Lugano completed 90 minutes as Oscar Tabarez's team went down to a shock 3-1 defeat at the hands of Costa Rica in their Group D opener last Saturday.
But the 33-year-old defender, who was released by West Brom at the end of last season, will not face Roy Hodgson's men due to soreness in his left knee.
A statement on the Uruguay FA's official website confirmed Lugano's absence, but went on to explain the player is not expected to require treatment following the results of an MRI scan.
Uruguay face England, who also lost their first game to Italy, on Thursday at the Arena Corinthians and expect to be boosted by the return of Luis Suarez following the star forward's recovery from knee surgery.
news_articleWed, 18 Jun 2014 16:07:32 +0000195654 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comUruguays Lugano draws on spirit and historyUruguay defender Diego Lugano has paid tribute the strength of character his team-mates showed in securing a FIFA World Cup berth.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/lugano-draws-spirit-and-history
Oscar Tabarez’s experienced side made a storming star to their CONMEBOL qualification campaign but a six-game winless run in the middle of the marathon section meant they needed an intercontinental play-off victory over Qatar to secure a place in Brazil.
The last time their South American neighbours hosted the tournament in 1950, Uruguay emerged victorious thanks to victory over Brazil in a stunned Maracana.
And Lugano took to Twitter to reference that triumph amid a stirring address.
In a series of posts on Thursday, the West Brom defender said: "Brazil 2014 World Cup begins today. Our really tough moment would have defeated many others but we turned it round with character and strength
"It's a characteristic of Uruguayan football that we rise from the ashes. In the toughest moment, we became even more united.
"The only World Cup that was played in Brazil was won by Uruguay and so the history, the legend, made it an obligation for us to be here."
Uruguay begin their Group D campaign against Costa Rica in Fortaleza on Saturday before potentially decisive clashes with England and Italy.
news_articleThu, 12 Jun 2014 15:30:33 +0000191364 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comWest Brom confirm release of quintetWest Brom have confirmed that five players have been released, with another five on-loan players returning to their parent clubs.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/quintet-leave-west-brom
In a statement released on Friday, the club confirmed that Zoltan Gera and Steven Reid would not be offered new contracts after their deals expired at the end of the season.
The Hawthorns outfit chose not to take up their one-year options on Liam Ridgewell and Scott Allan, while it was decided to trigger a break clause in Diego Lugano's contract.
Furthermore, the quintet of Scott Sinclair, Morgan Amalfitano, Thievy Bifouma, Matej Vydra and Goran Popov have all returned to their permanent employers.
"Zoltan and Steven have been terrific professionals during their many years with us," said West Brom's director of football administration Richard Garlick.
"They have been a real credit to the football club, both on and off the field.
"We know that Zoltan is looking to find another club while Steven, who is keen to carry on playing but is also doing his coaching badges, is considering his options.
"Liam has made a key contribution during the past two and a half years, which we thank him for. He has been a popular member of the dressing room and we wish him well as he looks for a new club.
"I would also like to thank Diego and our five loan signings for their efforts over the past 12 months.
"Scott Allan has found it difficult to break into the first team since arriving two-and-a-half years ago and we wish him well in his future career."
news_articleFri, 16 May 2014 18:18:48 +0000174177 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com